Sabin: Why Cowboys believe their days with Rob Ryan are numbered

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Brandon Wade/AP

FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2012, file photo, Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan appears during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns in Arlington, Texas. Ryan was fired Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, after his injury-depleted unit struggled in a pair of season-ending losses that kept the Cowboys out of the playoffs for a third straight year. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade, File)

IRVING — Marcus Spears has watched Rob Ryan operate. He has seen the Cowboys defensive coordinator implement his system and motivate players. He has listened to Ryan sell his philosophy and communicate instructions.

At some point in the very near future, Spears is convinced, Ryan will be hired as a head coach. In fact, the veteran defensive end is surprised Ryan isn’t running his own team already.

“But then again, I didn’t know Rob Ryan before this year,” Spears said.

That’s hard to believe, considering Ryan has a famous father, an equally well-known brother and an outsized personality that attracts attention along with his mane of scraggly gray hair.

But Ryan spent the previous seven seasons on the periphery of the NFL landscape, toiling in Oakland and Cleveland, where losing became the norm and the spotlight rarely found him.

“I was used to having one person interviewing me,” he quipped Friday in front of a crush of reporters.

Toiling in relative obscurity, Ryan sought a bigger stage and a winning atmosphere. So, when Cowboys coach Jason Garrett offered him the opportunity to run the team’s defense last winter, Ryan didn’t have to think twice before seizing it.

“This franchise is America’s Team,” safety Gerald Sensabaugh said.

It was more than that in the eyes of Ryan. He viewed Dallas as a destination where he could achieve success and get noticed for jobs like the Jacksonville Jaguars opening for which he has already been identified as a possible candidate. After all, he had seen three NFL head coaches — Garrett, Miami’s Tony Sparano and New Orleans’ Sean Payton — land their current jobs immediately after serving as assistants in Dallas.

Ryan knew exposure was one of the greatest fringe benefits that come with joining the Cowboys’ organization.

“It’s an attractive place to be,” Garrett said. “It’s an attractive place to work.”

It’s also an impossible place to hide. By the end of the regular season, the viewing public will have become well-acquainted with Ryan after watching Dallas play five games during prime time. Throughout the telecasts, the cameras have regularly focused on the Cowboys’ disheveled defensive coordinator — thrusting him to the fore as he prowls the sidelines.

But as people have become familiar with his face, they have also gained awareness of his accomplishments. Ryan has revamped a unit that collapsed repeatedly in 2010 as it allowed the second-highest total of points in the NFL. This season, on average, Dallas is conceding one less touchdown per game and is ranked 12th in scoring defense.

“He’s a great coach,” Sensabaugh said. “And he’s enjoying his time here.”

That much is obvious. Ryan seems to relish the fanfare surrounding the Cowboys, and he has repeatedly professed his love for the players. But he has greater aspirations. After watching his brother, Rex, lead the New York Jets to consecutive AFC Championship Games the last two seasons, Ryan’s desire to become a head coach swelled.

“It never used to be a big deal for me,” said Ryan, 48. “But watching my twin brother have all the success he’s had … that’s exciting. That’s probably piqued my interest more. Do I think I have the talent enough to do that job? Absolutely.”

That opinion is shared by the Cowboys’ players, who haven’t heard Ryan discuss his career opportunities but are resigned to the fact that he will get the position he covets in the near future because they see the makings of a great head coach.

“He has the ability to affect guys and influence them and make them play hard,” Spears said. “He has a great ability to push you harder than you think you can go.

“He has a great philosophy that makes you believe in what he’s trying to tell you, and it’s going to make you a successful football player and team. I think his opportunity is close.”

And by coming to Dallas, a launching point for future head coaches, Ryan appears to have moved within reach of seizing it.

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